How do you know what you are truly eating?

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aliry209
aliry209 Posts: 22 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi.. I am basically still in the learning phase of doing CICO.. Just a couple questions.. So do I have to weigh everything I eat? What if I go to a party at someone's house how do I know how much I am truly eating? If I am home Do you just look at the package and figure out the serving? Or is that where I would weigh it ? Sorry for all the questions lol just want to succeed this time . Thanks

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  • slim1156
    slim1156 Posts: 31 Member
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    i weigh and measure just about everything. if the package says that a serving is 2 pieces, then i take 2 pieces and use the package info. as for eating at someone's house, you will eventually get used to what a portion looks like and be able to estimate. there are online graphics that show examples of portion sizes. try googling it.

    good luck.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,384 Member
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    Yup I weigh everything at home.

    At friends' places or restaurants with no nutritional info, I do my best to eyeball it and always go a bit higher than what my eyeballs tell me.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Some of it is just a guess, or even simply a placeholder so you know you had something but don't know what it was.

    So I weigh as much as possible at home, go by the nutritional info on websites for those restaurants that have them, try to find close approximations for those restaurants that don't list them and, at time, put in bulk calories. I have no real clue what I ate last Superbowl, but used the "Superbowl, a tummy full" entry for 2000 cals.

    You do the best you can and understand you cannot be perfect.
  • aliry209
    aliry209 Posts: 22 Member
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    Thanks ! I will look into what a serving looks too and buy a food scale
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    aliry209 wrote: »
    Thanks ! I will look into what a serving looks too and buy a food scale

    I have all kinds of toys (watch, chest strap, wifi scale etc.) but the food scale is the only one I think i really need (just don't tell my wife).
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,071 Member
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    aliry209 wrote: »
    Hi.. I am basically still in the learning phase of doing CICO.. Just a couple questions.. So do I have to weigh everything I eat? What if I go to a party at someone's house how do I know how much I am truly eating? If I am home Do you just look at the package and figure out the serving? Or is that where I would weigh it ? Sorry for all the questions lol just want to succeed this time . Thanks

    I weigh everything at home, I pre-log my days most of the time as I am a meal-plan/prepper. If I am eating out or at a friends I will do my best to estimate on the higher side. The closer you are to your target weight the more accuracy you need as you will be in a smaller deficit, I have never weighed pre-packed serving food such as bread or the rare ready meal etc because I have a lot to lose and I can afford to be slightly less accurate on my food intake, however when I get down to my last 20lb I know I will need to tighten up on my accuracy.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    When I control the food, I weigh it, I log it. I plan my meals. Since I'm the only one eating my main dishes (I'm a vegetarian married to a meat-eater, so I cook two mains and we come together on sides and salads), I may not weigh my portion. A casserole serves 4; I get 4 meals out of it and if one is 23% of the pan and another is 27%, it's going to balance out over the week.

    For restaurants, I check the MFP database and go for the high side of average for a specific dish. When I'm invited to friends, I tend to err on the side of caution, taking a bit less than I think I can. But I should also point out that I have some issues with spatial perception that make it hard for me to visualize what a cup (or a serving of pasta that fits into a half-grapefruit) looks like. I fill up on fruits and vegetables.

    I pre-log when I can (i.e. restaurants). It helps me see for myself that, for example, "Two slices of vegetarian pizza is X calories and isn't taking me over my total". Which means that when I have that pizza? That's all I have. I get it without the heaping sides of guilt and negativity that tell me I just blew all my progress and I might as well 'live it up and indulge myself tonight, because the day is already shot". But everyone has their issues when it comes to weight-loss and mine has usually been that once I've indulged, I feel lousy and my old emotional eating trouble surfaces. I eat more to numb the guilt. I feel guilty about eating more. I eat more to numb the guilt... And we enter a dangerous cycle. Pre-logging helps me avoid all that because I know that I haven't gone off the rails, I'm on track, and I can just eat what I planned to and enjoy myself.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
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    Just as a guideline, a goal of 10% accuracy is fine as long as it goes both ways. In other words, you could be shooting for 1500kcals per day, but could be over or under by 150kcals on any particular day and that would be fine. (Even if you ate 10% too many calories consistently, you would still lose weight.)

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